“And when is that?” I wasn’t familiar with solstices and equinoxes, but it sounded like something that Dorothea told me about before to explain the shift from winter to spring.
‘Three months,’the voice finally supplied.
My body felt numb. I was going to have to stay in this time for three months?
“Shit,” I said, and this time, no one was around to scold me for my cursing. Anyone who would have cared was over a hundred years in the past.
Chapter Four
“Thatmirrorlookstoofancy for the bar, Rex,” Doc commented teasingly as we watched Rex and Bat bring the ornate mirror in through the side door. Doc had just finished lighting candles all over the bar because the raging storm outside had knocked out the power.
“Shut it, it’s for the bathroom upstairs,” Rex snapped, only making Doc’s grin widen.
“You know, just looking at you, Rex, you wouldn’t think you were into all that home design shit, but the house looks like something straight out of a magazine,” Bat said as he helped lean the mirror against the bar. “I mean we definitely stuck out like a pair of sore fucking thumbs at that estate sale.”
Rex’s grin was feral as he stared down at the mirror. “Yeah, all those rich fucks looked down their noses at us until I bought one of the best lots in the entire place.”
“How much did you spend?” Doc asked, rounding the bar and running a hand down the side of the mirror, making a silly face at his reflection as he examined the piece.
I hopped off of my stool, leaving my latest video editing project in order to slide under Rex’s arm and get a better look at the mirror. It was framed in ornate gold leaves that definitely needed a polish.
“Doesn’t matter how expensive it was, PC saw it online and he never asks for anything, so I got it.” Rex hugged me to his side and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. I leaned into his berry scent and inhaled deeply before shooting him a silent smile.
‘Did you get the clock too?’My hands moved through the air as I signed my words.
Rex nodded. “’Course, anything for you, kid.”
Rex may have looked scary-as-shit at the best of times, but I knew better than anyone that he was marshmallow-filled on the inside. “It’s still out in my truck though, it’s raining pretty badly out there, so I don’t want to damage the wood.”
I had been having a bad night last night. Putting on my headphones and drowning out the world hadn’t worked to keep my nightmares at bay, so I was scrolling through a local online estate sale website when I came across the mirror and the grandfather clock.
Something about the mirror in particular had drawn me in and I had stared at it so long that Rex caught me looking at it and asked if I wanted it.
I initially told him no, but once Rex gets an idea in his head, he systematically sets out to make it happen. The trait was a holdover from his days in the military, and it usually meant that he was spoiling me with things that we definitely did not need.
The door to the bar slammed open, making all of us jump and turn toward the source of the noise. Storm was standing in the doorway dripping from the pounding rain outside.
When I woke up this morning and he was gone from my nest, I had figured that he was probably outside enjoying the rain like he always did and I could see that I had been correct in that assumption.
Storm came inside, tugging me into a wet hug as I smacked his shoulder with irritation until Doc pulled me out of the other alpha’s arms.
“Dammit, Storm, what have I told you about hugging Podcast when you are all wet? You’re going to get him sick,” Doc scolded as he enveloped me in a warm hug to chase off the chill. “And you are tracking water all over my freshly mopped floors, you dick.”
“You don’t get sick from being cold and wet,” Storm pointed out as he started to squeeze the moisture out of his long black hair with his hands. The water splattered onto the floor and caused Doc to make a strangled noise as he released me and ran to grab some clean rags from the bar’s kitchen. “I don’t ever get sick and I’m wet most of the time.”
“That’s because you, my friend, are a freak of nature,” Bat said, slapping Storm on the back. The contact made a wet squelching noise.
Storm made a playful swing at Bat and suddenly the two were play-wrestling in the middle of the bar like two little kids rather than fully grown adults.
“This mirror needs a good wipe down and polish before I bring it upstairs, PC, can you grab the polish from underneath the bar?” Rex asked me, ignoring the scuffle that was occurring behind him.
I nodded, moving around the bar and pulling my headphones on over my ears. There were too many things happening at once, and I needed to at least cut out some of the noise. I didn’t turn on any music or the podcast that I had been listening to before Rex and Bat returned, so when I handed the polish back to Rex, I could hear his muffled thank you. He lifted his lips for a kiss and I obliged easily before turning to watch Bat and Storm continue to wrestle in the middle of the floor.
By the time Doc finally returned with towels in hand, Bat had Storm in a damp-looking headlock and I could hear Doc’s scolding even through my headphones as he held the towels out to the two and demanded that they wipe up their mess.
I was so busy laughing at their antics that I didn’t notice the sudden glow coming from behind me. It took Doc’s eyes widening for me to finally turn to find Rex gripping the mirror like he was stuck to it, a string of muffled curses leaving his mouth as he tried to release the glowing frame.
I pushed one of my headphones off of my ear, panic filling my throat as I watched something that seemed impossible happen right before my eyes.
